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##  Teacher Preparation and Teacher-Child Interaction in Preschools.                ERIC Digest.                                                                 

The quality of the interactions between teachers and young children             has long been a topic of discussion among early childhood educators             and others concerned with young children's development. It is                   generally agreed that because so much basic early learning (e.g.,               language, social competence) occurs through interactive experiences             when children are very young, the quality of teacher- child                     interactions contributes substantially to effects that early group              care and preschool education have on children (Bowman, Donovan, &               Burns, 2001). Many early childhood teachers enter the field with                little education beyond high school and minimal specialized                     education in child development or early childhood education.                    Researchers have therefore wondered whether the general level of                education, specialized training in early childhood development and              education, or both, are related to the quality of teachers'                     interactions with young children. Many states allow teachers to do              their work with little if any specialized education (Phillips,                  Lande, & Goldberg, 1990). Thus, it is important to know if                      specialized education in early childhood education is related to                teachers' effectiveness on the job. This Digest discusses the                   research on general and specialized education as factors in                     teachers' interactions with children. The term teacher is used here             to refer to teachers and caregivers for the sake of                             simplicity. GENERAL EDUCATION AND TEACHER-CHILD INTERACTIONA              well-known study conducted by Berk (1985) focused on the                        relationship between teacher education and teacher behavior toward              children in child care settings. She found that teachers with                   college degrees were more likely than those without a degree to                 encourage children, make suggestions to them, and promote their                 verbal skills. 
Another well-known study, the National Day Care                Study (Ruopp et al., 1979), demonstrated that caregiver education               was positively associated with the amount of social interaction,                cognitive/language stimulation, and conversation with children. The             National Child Care Staffing Study (Whitebook, Howes, & Phillips,               1990), a large, multisite study, found that education was the                   caregiver background variable that best predicted caregiver                     behavior (sensitivity, harshness, detachment). On the other hand, a             large, multisite study of infant/toddler care (NICHD Early Child                Care Research Network [ECCRN], 1996) found no relationship between              teachers' education and frequency or ratings of positive                        caregiving. 
A study by Kontos et al. (1995) demonstrated similar              relationships between interactions and formal education for family              child care providers and for teachers in centers. In this study,                level of formal schooling was significantly positively related to               observer ratings of provider sensitivity and observations of                    responsive involvement with children, but negatively related to                 observer ratings of detachment and to providers' self-ratings of                restrictiveness. 
Some other recent studies found mixed results,               partly because they measured teacher behavior in different ways and             partly because the programs studied had different                               characteristics. SPECIALIZED EDUCATION AND TEACHER-CHILD                      INTERACTIONSSeveral studies have examined the relationship                  between teachers' behaviors with children and their specialized                 education. A follow-up analysis of National Child Care Staffing                 Study data (Howes, Whitebook, & Phillips, 1992) indicated that                  specialized education at the college level was important for                    teachers' competent interactions with infants and toddlers (as                  measured by the appropriate caregiving subscale of the Infant-                  Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS)), in contrast to                     preschool teachers who seemed to do well with a college degree in               any subject or specialized education at the college level.                      Howes (1983) demonstrated that center-based caregivers with more                specialized education played more with children and were less                   restrictive. In addition, family child care providers with more                 specialized education also played more with children and showed more            responsivity-results consistent with those reported by Kontos and               colleagues (1995). 
Arnett (1989) observed the behavior of 159                 child care teachers in Bermuda with four different levels of                    specialized education ranging from no training to extensive                     training (a college degree in early childhood education). Results               demonstrated that teachers with degrees showed more warmth and were             less punitive and detached in their interactions with children than             teachers in the other three groups. Teachers with mid-range training            in child development were more positive and less punitive and                   detached than teachers with no training. Thus, Arnett demonstrated              that some specialized education is good for the quality of teachers'            interactions with children, but that more is even better. 
Several             studies failed to show a relationship between specialized education             and teachers' interactions with children. Cassidy and Buell (1996)              reported that, in spite of increased Early Childhood Environmental              Rating Scale (ECERS) scores following specialized education, there              was no change in the amount of responsive language used by teachers.            In other words, the coursework appears to have influenced overall               classroom quality but not the quality of teachers' verbalizations               with children. Family-to-Family training (training developed by a               partnership of community organizations and family child care                    providers) did not change the sensitivity or responsiveness of the              providers' interactions with the children, although quality was                 enhanced (Kontos, Howes, & Galinsky, 1996). Thus, results regarding             the association between specialized education and teachers'                     interactions with children are mixed in studies using                           quasi-experimental designs. 
One problem with research examining               the effects or correlates of teacher education and specialized                  education in early childhood education is that the two factors tend             to be intertwined. Teachers with more formal education were also                more likely to have more specialized education. Berk (1985), for                instance, demonstrated differences in teachers' interactions with               children between teachers with specialized education and those with             high school diplomas (in favor of the former), but she was unable to            show that specialized education was superior to a degree in an                  unrelated field. 
Another problem is that the amount of formal and             specialized education tends to be calculated as continuous                      variables (that is, actual years of education) rather than                      categorized into groups such as teachers with a high school diploma,            teachers with a bachelor's degree, and so on. As a result, although             these studies investigate relationships between teachers' education             and other variables, they cannot be used as a source of                         policy-relevant information regarding which category of                         education (formal or specialized) makes a significant difference to             practice. 
Howes (1997) conducted a study that attempted to address            both of these two research problems. Using data from two large                  investigations of child care, Howes classified teachers into five               categories by crossing categories of formal education with                      categories of specialized education and including in the study only             teachers who fit into those categories. These categories were high              school diploma with workshops, Child Development Associate (CDA)                training, some college with some early childhood education courses,             associate's degree (AA) in early childhood, and an undergraduate or             graduate degree in early childhood. Groups were compared for teacher            sensitivity (Arnett, 1989) and involvement (Howes & Stewart, 1987).             Results from both studies indicated that teachers with bachelor's               degrees in early childhood education or higher were the most                    sensitive and involved teachers compared to all other groups.                   Teachers with AA degrees and CDA credentials were more sensitive and            involved than teachers with some college or high school plus                    workshops, however. These data suggest that coherent teacher                    preparation programs (regardless of length or cost) are more                    effective in preparing teachers than are ad hoc educational                     experiences. 
One study reported results contrary to the studies               above. The National Institute of Child Health and Human                         Development (NICHD/ECCRN, 1996) study of early child care examined              predictors of positive caregiving in settings with infants and                  toddlers. The NICHD/ECCRN study found that specialized education was            more important for work with preschoolers than with infants and                 toddlers. Specialized education was not among the statistically                 significant predictors of positive caregiving for that age group.               Instead, positive caregiving was predicted by the size of the group             and child-to-adult ratio. CONCLUSIONThere is considerable                 evidence that specialized training is related to the quality of                 teachers' interactions with children. Two studies (Cassidy et al.,              1995; Kontos, Howes, & Galinsky, 1996) used quasi-experimental                  designs that suggest causality between specialized education and                practice. These two studies support the idea that global indicators             of quality may change somewhat (at least statistically, if not                  observably), but that observations of teachers' interactions with               children revealed no change as a function of specialized education.             It may be that researchers are not observing the kinds of behaviors             that are likely to change as a function of specialized education.               Two studies (Howes, Whitebook, & Phillips, 1992; NICHD/ECCRN, 1996)             found different results for infants/toddlers compared to                        preschoolers. Howes found specialized education most important for              work with infants, whereas the NICHD/ECCRN study found specialized              education more important for work with preschoolers. More specific              research is needed on teacher-child interactions to clarify existing            studies. FOR MORE INFORMATIONArnett, J. (1989). Caregivers in             day-care centers: Does training matter? JOURNAL OF APPLIED                      DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, 10(4), 541-552. 
Berk, L. (1985).                    Relationship of caregiver education to child-oriented attitudes, job            satisfaction, and behaviors toward children. CHILD CARE QUARTERLY,              14(2), 103-129. 
Bowman, B. T., Donovan, M. S., & Burns, M.                    S. (Eds.). (2001). EAGER TO LEARN: EDUCATING OUR PRESCHOOLERS.                  Washington, DC: Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy, National                 Research Council. ED 447 963. 
Cassidy, D. J., & Buell, M.                     J. (1996). Accentuating the positive? An analysis of teacher                    verbalizations with young children. CHILD AND YOUTH CARE FORUM,                 25(6), 403-414. 
Cassidy, D. J., Buell, M. J., Pugh-Hoese, S., &               Russell, S. (1995). The effect of education on child care teachers'             beliefs and classroom quality: Year one evaluation of the TEACH                 early childhood associate degree scholarship program. EARLY                     CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY, 10(2), 171-183. EJ 508 860. 
Howes,              C. (1983). Caregiver behavior in center and family day care. JOURNAL            OF APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, 4(1), 99-107. 
Howes                      C. (1997). Children's experiences in center-based child care as a               function of teacher background and adult:child ratio. MERRILL-PALMER            QUARTERLY, 43(3), 404-425. EJ 554 324. 
Howes, C., & Stewart,                  P. (1987). Child's play with adults, toys, and peers: An examination            of family and child-care influences. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY,                  23(3), 423-430. EJ 355 917. 
Howes, C., Whitebook, M., & Phillips,             D. (1992). Teacher characteristics and effective teaching in child              care: Findings from the National Child Care Staffing Study. CHILD               AND YOUTH CARE FORUM, 21(6), 399-414. 
Kontos, S., Howes, C., &                Galinsky, E. (1996). Does training make a difference to quality in              family child care? EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY, 11(4),                   427-445. EJ 550 957. 
Kontos, S., Howes, C., Shinn, M., & Galinsky,            E. (1995). QUALITY IN FAMILY CHILD CARE AND RELATIVE CARE. New York:            Teachers College Press. ED 390 536. 
NICHD Early Child Care                    Research Network (ECCRN). (1996). Characteristics of infant child               care: Factors contributing to positive caregiving. EARLY CHILDHOOD              RESEARCH QUARTERLY, 11(3), 269-306. EJ 534 662. 
Phillips, D.,                 Lande, J., & Goldberg, M. (1990). The state of child care                       regulation: A comparative analysis. EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH                    QUARTERLY, 5(2), 151-179. EJ 413 816. 
Ruopp, R., Travers, J.,                 Glantz, F., & Coelen, C. (1979). CHILDREN AT THE CENTER: FINAL                  REPORT OF THE NATIONAL DAY CARE STUDY. Cambridge, MA: Abt                       Associates. ED 168 733. 
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips,                 D. (1990). WHO CARES? CHILD CARE TEACHERS AND THE QUALITY OF CARE IN            AMERICA. FINAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL CHILD CARE STAFFING STUDY.                Oakland, CA: Child Care Employee Project. ED 323 031. 
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